AUSTRIAN MEDIA HIGHLIGHTS: March 27, 2007

UNCLAS VIENNA 000785 SIPDIS SIPDIS DEPT FOR EUR/AGS, INR/EU, AND EUR/PPD FOR YVETTE SAINT-ANDRE OSD FOR COMMANDER CHAFFEE WHITEHOUSE FOR NSC/WEUROPE E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: KPAO AU OPRC SUBJECT: AUSTRIAN MEDIA HIGHLIGHTS: March 27, 2007 Budget Plans Favor OeVP ¶1. Despite demonstrations of unity, cooperation between the coalition partners SPOe and OeVP has been marked by quarrels and disagreement. It is therefore hardly surprising that benchmark information on Finance Minister Wilhelm Molterer's address in Parliament to present the double budget for 2007/2008 has been leaked a few days ahead of the speech, Austrian media note. In addition, the budget data has revealed that the ministers of junior coalition partner OeVP will have twice as much money at their disposal as their SPOe colleagues. According to ORF online news, SPOe ministers will be able to spend 21,948 billion Euros this year, while those from the OeVP will have 46,942 billion at their disposal. This does not surprise Austrian economics expert Bernhard Felderer, who explains that the Finance Ministry, which is in OeVP hands, is naturally in charge of the bulk of the money, given that major expenses including pensions for civil servants and federal debt management are paid out of its budget. Key Session for Eurofighter Committee ¶2. Tuesday's session of the investigative committee looking into the Austrian Eurofighter purchase is expected to be particularly significant: Former Finance Minister Karl-Heinz Grasser and former Defense Minister and current Interior Minister Guenther Platter are among those asked to testify before the committee. The two politicians will be questioned on details of the Eurofighter purchase negotiations as well as the contents of the contract. ORF online news writes that the head of the Eurofighter investigative committee, Greens MP Peter Pilz, plans to ask former Finance Minister Karl-Heinz Grasser and former Defense Minister Guenther Platter tough questions on the jets' purchase process. Opponents of the deal have accused the two of having negotiated to Austria's disadvantage. Minister Platter is also expected to be questioned about the still outstanding software licenses from the US, which are required for the planes, ORF online news notes. Liberal daily Der Standard meanwhile reports that two US military personnel will be stationed at the Zeltweg barracks in Austria when the Eurofighters arrive in the country. The two US soldiers will be in charge of monitoring the navigation software's security. Leitl Welcomes Infrastructure Spending ¶3. The President of the Austrian Chamber of Economics, Christoph Leitl, has said he is satisfied with the government's ambitious investment program in infrastructure. Speaking shortly after the SPOe-OeVP coalition announced spending of 11 billion Euros on road and railway projects over the next four years, Leitl stressed that clear priorities had been set for the most important tasks. It remains unclear, however, how the government's infrastructure program will be financed, one Austrian daily notes. Like all Austrian media, semi-official daily Wiener Zeitung reports on the coalition government's decision to invest 11 billion Euros in road and rail links until 2010. The major projects include the so-called Brenner-Basis tunnel, the Semmering tunnel and a central railway station for Vienna. Finance Minister Wilhelm Molterer from the OeVP said it was the biggest infrastructure investment any Austrian government had ever undertaken in a single term of office. Independent provincial daily Salzburger Nachrichten comments that the "costs for tunnels are exploding, but many other projects have been put on the back burner." And centrist daily Die Presse argues that "future generations will have to pay for the government's ambitious plans for Austria's infrastructure." Ambassador Visits Linz ¶4. US Ambassador to Austria Susan McCaw visited the Upper Austrian capital Linz on March 21. At the Austrian bank Oberbank she spoke about the opportunities and risks of globalization and the transatlantic relationship. Upper Austrian regional daily Neues Volksblatt in a report on March 23 calls US Ambassador to Austria Susan McCaw the "Ambassador of economic upswing." McCaw was welcomed in the Upper Austrian capital Linz on March 21 by the director general of the Austrian bank Oberbank Franz Gasselsberger. In her PAS-facilitated speech on globalization and the transatlantic relations, the Ambassador - whose professional background is investment banking - praised Austria as "having the potential to permanently take its place among Europe's leading business locations." She has been particularly impressed by Upper Austria's economic strength, the daily says, and adds that Upper Austrian Governor Josef Puehringer returned McCaw's compliment, saying that it was the "US that recently had led Europe back on the path of economic growth." In a similar vein, Oberbank director general Gasselsberger underscored that in his view, the United States remains the "most important engine of the current positive economic development." Mass-circulation tabloid Kronen Zeitung for Upper Austria also reports on the Ambassador's visit, and notes that her talk upon invitation of bank director Gasselsberger was moderated by "ORF legend" Klaus Emmerich. Among the prominent guests at the event was also Joachim Haindl-Grutsch, the managing director of Upper Austria's industrialists association. Iran Questioning British Sailors ¶5. Iran says it is questioning the 15 captured British sailors and marines to determine if their alleged entry into Iranian territorial waters was intentional or unintentional and will then decide what to do with them. Iran and Britain continue to disagree over the matter. Observers say Tehran has softened its stance on the captured sailors and may be opening the way for a negotiated outcome. Mass-circulation daily Kurier suggest the crisis over the British soldiers held captive in Iran could be a politically motivated arrest. Tehran could use the sailors as leverage, the daily says and explains: Arab media reported the allegedly spontaneous arrest had been ordered on March 18 by the Iranian Defense Council. The British military personnel could be released in exchange for five members of a special unit of Iran's Revolutionary Guard, captured by US troops in Iraq in January, and for a top agent who disappeared in Turkey. Tehran is concerned the men could reveal details of Iranian covert operations, the Kurier says, and comments that it "would not be the first time that soldiers have been offered up as pawns in political machinations or as leverage to escalate crises." Iran, however, denies the allegations. Meanwhile, EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana has held talks with Iran's top nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani. It is believed he renewed an offer from the five permanent UN Security Council members and Germany to negotiate over Tehran's nuclear ambitions. EU sources say there is "no reason for panic" over the status of Iran's nuclear program, which was less advanced than initially believed, according to an EU diplomat, says liberal daily Der Standard. Kilner